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Extended public key (xpub)

xpub · zpub · ypub

An extended public key, or xpub, is a public key plus a chain code that lets software derive every public address of a wallet account without being able to spend from it.

BIP32 defines extended keys. An account’s xpub lets a watch-only wallet show balances and generate receiving addresses while the private keys stay elsewhere.

Whoever has the xpub can see every past and future address of the account, and so its whole balance and history. BIP32 also warns that an extended public key combined with any non-hardened child private key reveals the parent private key.

Share it only with software and people that need it, such as your own watch-only app or multisig co-signers. See what an xpub reveals.

Sources

  1. BIP32: Hierarchical deterministic wallets
  2. BIP84: Derivation scheme for P2WPKH based accounts

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